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Potatoes are a widely cultivated crop, and their stem tubers grow underground until ready to harvest and eat. Potatoes grow well in a variety of soils and make an excellent crop for container gardening. Growing potatoes in a container helps prevent weeds and reduce the risk of pests, as well as making harvesting a snap. Instead of using a shovel to dig up the tubers, you can use your hands to dig out potatoes as needed or upend the container and allow the potatoes to spill out.

1

Harvest new potatoes when the plant flowers. Just stick your hand into the container's top layer of soil, under the plants, and pull up the number of potatoes you need. These are known as new potatoes, which are sweeter and less starchy than mature potatoes.

2

Harvest a meal's worth of both new potatoes and mature potatoes by digging your hands into the container's soil and pulling up what you need. Using this method, you can harvest potatoes for months. Make sure to re-cover the remaining tubers with soil and to water them water well.

3

Wait until the stems turn yellow and the tops dies down before harvesting the container's entire potato crop. Tip the full container over on its side onto an open patch of ground outdoors, and sift through the soil for potatoes. They are likely to vary in size. Store the potatoes in a cool, dry place with a temperature between 35 and 40 F.

Tip

Do not wash potatoes until you are ready to use them; they keep better and can be stored longer if they are simply brushed free of soil.

Warnings

Make sure all remaining tubers left after you harvest a small batch of potatoes are completely covered, because sun exposure can cause potato skin's to turn green, making them bitter and even toxic.

Harvest all potatoes once the vines die, because leaving them in the soil makes the potatoes susceptible to rotting.

About the Author

Based in Indiana, Molly Allman holds a B.A. in professional writing. She works as both a writer and author and enjoys writing articles on many different topics. She specializes in topics concerning health, crafts, family and lifestyles. Her fiction writing appears in "Bewildering Stories," "The Other Herald" and "Spectacular Speculations."